


The Cereal Log

by Valex_Charme



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff and Crack, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-27
Updated: 2013-08-27
Packaged: 2017-12-24 19:29:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/943779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valex_Charme/pseuds/Valex_Charme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One does not mess with Harry's cereal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Cereal Log

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: What follows is a completely inaccurate description of the lives of three members of 1D. It’s also probably an inaccurate portrayal of their relationships, personalities, and living situation. I apologize for nothing.
> 
> This is for my belle amie. You know who you are, Andrea. 
> 
> Prompt: "Can you please do a Narry, where Harry gets mad at Niall for something he didn't do and he yells at Niall who runs out crying. He later finds out it was Louis instead of Niall and he tries to find Niall but he can't so he feels super guilty and lokks for him and later when he finds him, he apologizes Please! And if you do this! You're awesome! Sorry for bad grammar! :)" - anon
> 
> I have a soft spot for Niall crying but his IRL personality is very dude-ish. I tried to make him cry...

The first thing Harry hears when he walks through the doors of his flat is the sound of cartoons playing on the television. So Niall’s here, he thought with a silent groan. _Of course he’d be here. He lives here... with me._

It wasn’t that Harry didn’t want Niall to be there with him. He loved the blonde Irish boy too much not to have asked him to move in. But on some days, like this particular one after a grueling four hours in the recording studio trapped by hordes of fans, Harry just wanted some peace and quiet. Sometimes, he just wanted all those girls to just go mute for the day. He’d pay a lot of money to see that. Or rather, not _hear_ that. 

It was approaching the darkest hours of the night when he finally got home. He’d have made it home sooner if he hadn’t forgotten his phone. 

A crunching sound alerted Niall to Harry’s presence as the taller boy tried to make his way to their bedroom quietly. _Damn these Pringles._

“Hey, Harry,” Niall said, turning his head to smile at his boyfriend/flatmate. “How was the recording?”

“Exhausting,” Harry sighed as he gave up on being stealthy. It would’ve been impossible with the amount of clutter on the floor of their living room. “I’m just going to relax for the rest of the night, babe. Don’t mind me.”

“Alright,” Niall answered as he watched Harry retreat to their room before turning back to his show. 

Harry immediately collapsed onto to their bed, jeans and all. It felt like he could sleep an eternity and still not be ready to go to the studio tomorrow. At least it would be with the rest of the band. 

When he decided he was settled, Harry started to slowly rid his body of the day’s trappings. First his shoes came off and the miles of walking around with them. Then his jeans and with it the hours he spent standing and sitting in the glass room. Then his shirt came off and it was like the stress of the day had been pushed off his shoulders. . 

However, the tranquility of the room was interrupted by his growling stomach. Harry managed to put on a shirt and shorts before heading out towards the kitchen.

Niall was still watching his show, an absent smile on his face. It was one of the things that attracted Harry to him. Niall probably doesn’t even know he’s smiling. It was just something he did. 

The smile was infectious and Harry found one on his face as he went over to the kitchen. The smile was short-lived, though. Niall knew how much Harry hated sink clutter and having an unwashed bowl just sitting there was enough to sour Harry’s mood. But that wasn’t what made Harry drop his own bowl to shatter on the floor.

“Christ,” Niall swore as he ran to the kitchen. “What happened?”

“Did you eat my cereal?” Harry asked simply.

Concern quickly gave way to confusion. “What?”

Harry was still holding the door to the cupboard, his back to Niall, as he exhaled slowly. “Did you eat my cereal?” he asked again.

“What? No!” came the defensive answer. 

“Bullshit!” Harry shouted as he turned around to face Niall. 

“The hell are you shouting at me for?” Niall shouted back, retreating slightly as Harry stalked forward, ignoring the shards of the broken bowl behind him. “I didn’t eat your bloody cereal!”

The unexpected fury in Harry’s face had Niall taken aback. “Those Tac-O’s were limited edition, Niall! They won’t be making those for another year, at least!”

“Are you seriously getting angry with me over cereal?” Niall asked with an incredulous expression.

“Don’t fucking change the subject,” Harry ordered, pointing an accusing finger at his bandmate.

Niall raised his arms up, retreating. “I didn’t eat your Taco-O’s! Maybe you ate it and threw away the box without realizing?” Niall said, trying to be rational in the face of this irrational anger.

“That’s impossible,” Harry immediately declared, voice still tight but definitively displeased. “I keep a cereal log so I--”

“Wait, you keep a what?” Niall asked. 

“A cereal log,” Harry answered, looking at Niall as if the answer were only too obvious. “I always write down when I eat my cereal and how much.” Harry turned to pull something from a drawer, Niall looking over his shoulder. When Harry pulled out a clipboard, Niall just stared with utter surprise.

“Is that really a cereal log?” Niall asked, looking at the official looking object in question. “I’ve lived here for six months and I’ve never seen that thing.”

Harry ignored him. “See,” he said, presenting the log to Niall. “The last time I ate Tac-O’s was two days ago and there should be a bowlful left. And, as we can both see, the box and whatever cereal left is gone.”

“Well, why are you blaming me?”

“Do you see any other Irish lads in here with a black hole for a stomach?”

Niall crossed his arms at that. “So just because I like to eat, I’m your prime suspect?” Harry just crossed his arms, too, and stared at his boyfriend with challenging eyes. “Fine,” Niall said, finally having enough of this. He stepped away from Harry and made his way towards their bedroom.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Harry asked, walking after him. “I’m not done with you!” He grabbed Niall and forced the blonde boy to face him. “The cereal is just the beginning, Niall. Since you’ve moved in, I’ve noticed a sharp increase in clutter around the apartment. Most of it being your discarded clothes.”

Niall looked around and found that Harry was right. 

“It’s your empty bag of crisps, it’s your soda cans, it’s your fucking Pringles!” 

Niall just looked down at his feet, shrinking at Harry’s rage. 

“You never wash your dishes, you never empty the rubbish bin, and you never replace the toilet paper when it runs out!” Harry had to take a few breaths but he didn’t stop berating the boy in front of him. “All that, I expected when you moved in. But eating my cereal? That’s--”

“I didn’t eat your fucking cereal!” Niall cried out, pushing past Harry and storming out of their flat.

The door creaked to a stop a few seconds later and Harry just stood there stunned. He wanted to go after Niall but his rage kept him in place. So there he stood, stewing over everything that was said. 

Hours later, he woke with a start in bed. Ritual and habit dictated that he reach over to Niall’s side of the bed. It startled him enough to sit upright when he noticed it was empty. His quick recollection of what had happened didn’t help to comfort him, either. 

“Fuck,” he groaned into the empty room, cradling his face with his palms. 

He went to his bedside drawer where he knew he left his phone. The welcome screen indicated he had a new text message from Louis. The first one he read was sent to him just before he fell asleep… which meant it was sent right after the fight.

_Niall’s with me. I think you guys need to talk._ \- Louis

One was received a few hours before he got home.

_So I snuck by and helped myself to your Tac-O’s, what with them being limited edition and stuff, and I accidentally ate them all… Please don’t kill me! I promise I’ll make it up to you… somehow. BYE_ \- Louis

/

Louis had long given up on waiting for Harry to burst through the door and let his guard down. Now he was fast asleep on his couch, bowl of popcorn spilled on his lap.

He had let in a tired Irish boy into his room a few hours prior and learned of the cereal argument, among other things. Louis tried to comfort Niall and told the lad he could stay for the night while Harry cools down. But Louis knew Harry would go after his boyfriend. So as Niall slept in Louis’ bed, Louis put on a movie and got ready for Harry’s arrival.

Louis wasn’t wrong. Harry did eventually go after Niall, just not as quickly as he’d thought. And the frantic pounding on his door was expected. Louis just wished he didn’t have popcorn flying everywhere as he jumped to answer the door.

“You,” Harry hissed at his best friend. He pointed a finger straight at Louis’ face before cutting it across his throat. That was a threat if there ever was one. 

Louis just gulped as he let Harry pass. Harry was a good distance away when Louis whispered, “I said don’t kill me…”

Niall was nothing if not predictable. And Harry knew exactly what he’d find: a bunch of blankets rolled onto himself to make a Niall burrito. Niall tended to do that when he was upset and Harry found it one of his more endearing qualities. Niall wanted to put a barrier between himself and his problems. Harry just regretted being the cause of this particular burrito. The empty tub of ice cream on the floor was a new addition, though. Probably Louis’ doing. 

“Niall,” Harry said, waking his boyfriend with a gentle hand. He sat at the edge of the bed and watched Niall rouse from his sleep. The blonde boy sat up, carrying the shell of blankets with him.

“Harry?” Niall rubbed his eyes and squinted at the other boy. “What are you doing here? Come to yell at me some more?”

Harry shook his head. “No,” he said. “I want to say I’m sorry for what I said.”

“Oh, good,” Louis said from his place under the doorway. “I thought you came here to tear me a new one.” Harry glared at his friend and, even though it was mostly dark in the room, some light managed to catch his eye and gave a glint that Louis took as his cue to leave. “I-I’ll be over… here if you need me,” he said, retreating.

“Anyway,” Harry said, turning from where he was glaring at Louis to Niall. “I didn’t mean what I said. I don’t think you’re--”

“A total slob?” Niall finished for him. “An endless pit in which food simply disappears?”

Harry just nodded. 

“It’s not like you’re totally wrong,” Niall said. 

“Come on, Niall.”

“No, you’re right,” Niall insisted. “It’s mostly my stuff on the floor and I do forget to take out the garbage and all that other stuff.” Then he looked at Harry with those wet blue eyes. “I just wish you told me instead of…”

Harry always thought Niall was so pretty when he cried. It didn’t happen often but Harry managed to make Niall know it was true when it did. “I’m sorry. I was stupid.”

Niall scoffed. “Yeah, you were.”

“Louis does this to me,” was all Harry could say.

“Oh, good. I thought it was the cereal,” Niall said, daring a smile.

And there it was: Niall’s infectious smile. It was tentative and cautious but it was there.

/

“Hey, babe,” Niall greeted. “Did you have a nice sleep?”

“Yeah,” Harry answered as he walked over to give Niall a lazy morning kiss. The blonde boy was lounging on the sofa watching the television with a hot cup of coffee. It was a quaint sight. 

The only thing that could’ve made this morning even better would have been having a nice bowl of Tac-O’s. Sighing, Harry just went over to the cupboards to pull out a box. He needed to get over that whole cereal incident. One thing he did learn from it, though. Now he kept the cereal log in plain sight, stuck onto the fridge with a magnet. A quick scribble and he was off to enjoy the morning with Niall.

“Ow! Hey!” Louis cried when Harry accidentally hit him with his shin. “Watch where you’re going.”

“Don’t forget the bathroom, Louis,” Harry said, ignoring his friend’s complaints. 

Louis just grumbled as he dragged the full contents of the trash bin towards the front door. Doing their house cleaning for two months was the punishment for eating the last of Harry’s Tac-O’s. It would’ve been bearable if Harry hadn’t insisted that Louis wear a French maid outfit while he worked. Sometimes the guy can hold a grudge.


End file.
